In this charged atmosphere, I don't want to amp up the emotion, and I don't want us to bolt to a conclusion. Let's keep our voltage in check, no saying "ohm my goodness" or the like. Keep in mind there is a positive and negative pole in every 3 stroke circuit. OK, I out now.

Any update Q22? We're routing for you. Or we're just looking for outlets for punning activity.

Men who lie, merely hide the truth; but men who tell half-lies, have forgotten where they put it--Samuel Clemens

Hi guys. The lightning thing was strange. I was at work and ran to see if my friends windows were up. Only rain at the time, but when I re-entered the doorway to the building, the thunder cracked. I had saw the lightning out of the cornor of my eye. A silvery bolt that seemed to cracked in mid air rather than touch ground. I know a little about the physics involved with lightning since lightning is actually one of my favorite things. Thats actually what "Quickblade" stands for. After the thunder clap occurred, I felt as if a vertical section of my torso had been made devoid of air. Sounds strange and is hard to explain, but it was pretty cool.

As for my job. I start my new schedule tomorrow night. This could get real complicated to explain. I was an assistant supervisor for about 5 years at a newspaper company. 3 years ago were bought by a new owner. 6 months later, I had to fire all of my employees in my department because of an operation change. That left me with a reduced role which at first was hard because of the uncertainty of it all. It also left me with less work/responsibility which wasn't all that bad. A new change in business has happened which has changed my schedule radically and has given me a ton more responsibility and work. If things go wrong this time, I will be faced with reliving the whole horrible experience all over again. I may be seeing more money, but as some of you know more money doesn't always equal more happiness. To explain my financial situation to you a little it goes like this. The national level of income to be considered above poverty for a family of 3 is about $45 K a year. My household is at about $21 K. I could be wrong a little and will edit it if my wife tells me other wise, but you see how a little boost in money isn't going to make up for the change in lifestyle.

The missing Lego goes like this. My nephew is currently on vacation with my daughter. When they return Mon or Tue, I have a few courses of action. I can either go to visit my nephew and recover my stolen Lego as I find them, or I can try to talk to my sister and explain the problem as best as I see fit. Sometimes my family goes with the whole " Whats's done is done" philosphy, but I never bought that. It really sucks because my nephew just turned 9 and I was thinking that he could begin to enjoy Lego as I do, once he gets over that stupid toon-ami phase of everything has to fight with no build up. As for the missing pieces, I'm not looking for people to try to replace them, as I can find alternatives, but here's what he got off the top of my head: 2 dk gray euro armors, 2 lt gray pointed visors, 2 white plumes, 2 faces that I only had 1 of each that were important characters to me. 2 red ninja headgears, a few native american faces, the rest were not terribly important pieces besides a few figs in my armies. I also managed to recover my Black Falcon leader with a Brickforge great healm, but the paldrons were missingalong with his accessories. It's the act that has me more upset than anything.

I'm sorry for the huge post, but I just wanted to explain everything. I'm kinda like a super villian with my honesty. I'll tell you everything ..... right before I make my mark Once again, thanks everyone for your concerns and kind words.

Chief Smithy of Brick ForgeI buy LEGO, I play with LEGO, therefore LEGO are not for children, they are for me!

Your nephew appears to be at the age where he needs to learn that stealing is wrong. I would hope that your sister would rather teach her son that than letting "whats done is done." That wouldn't fly in my family when I was growing up. What if your nephew decides he wants to joy-ride the family car? My parents would not hesitate an opportunity to reinforce good behavior. Even if your sister doesn't value the LEGO stealing non-essentials(as opposed to food when starving) is wrong at any age.
-Tower

The schedule hasn't burned me out as bad as I thought. My fear that I have to face daily isn't as bad as I expected. My job is no more secure than it was previously. The stolen Lego hasn't been resolved, but still needs to be addressed even if I don't recover my goods.

Here's the good news: The support of all of you, along with the customizing skills of newcomers Roaglann and Hound Knight, have kept me from straying into unhappy territory. I've purchased a few troll/orc sets as well. Here's the best part. While I was posting to Josh about getting the "List of Custom Stickers" stickyed yesterday (thanks Admins), My wife came home with my daughter and told me about this guy that had Lego for sell. It was in a little shop not far from my house, and I didn't get my hopes up, but was I in for a surprise. It's like having my own little Bricklink store 3 miles away. He has all kinds of collectibles besides Lego, but is an AFOL for sure. I got a few pieces for some great prices, but more importantly, have made another AFOL friend. I talked up CC and it's cool members. Hopefully he'll join soon and bring his other AFOL's onboard.

So once again, thanks to everyone that reads or posts. Oh, and thanks for all the punny jokes too I hope I'm gonna be as active as I have been but life can change in a flash

Chief Smithy of Brick ForgeI buy LEGO, I play with LEGO, therefore LEGO are not for children, they are for me!

I realize this post is a little on the late side but I don't visit this forum alot. I'm really sorry about what happened with your nephew. A while ago I had a cousin who would - while playing with my LEGO's - take them apart. Luckily he never stole anything. It finally got to the point where he wasn't allowed in my room. I think that would be the best way to make sure he doesn't make off with anymore. I agree with Tower that at 9 your nephew needs to know that he can't just steal things and get away with them because he's a kid. I would recommend talking to him and his mother. If you have pictures of your collection from before he stole part of it, you could show them to her and then show her that some of it is missing form your's and is strangely present in his. Also, if he just recently got alot of LEGOs he may still have the boxes. If that's all the ones he has, you could could show his mother that your pieces are nowhere to be found in any of the sets he got. I really hope you can get your figs back. I know it hurts to lose stuff that you really love.

And about your job. I'm pulling for you to get some stability in that situation. I hope everything works out for you. I'm sure you deserve something better.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us."